


Up and Down Like A Roller Coaster

by hyunchanee_exo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Blind Date, Exes, Getting Back Together, M/M, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 05:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19846867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyunchanee_exo/pseuds/hyunchanee_exo
Summary: Baekhyun is forced in a double blind date with his friend Minseok.The last thing he expected is for his pair to be his ex-boyfriend who had disappeared years ago.





	Up and Down Like A Roller Coaster

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a prompt by @kissoohae on Twitter twitter.com/kissoohae/status/1151441971715571712
> 
> Thank you so much for this amazing prompt I was able to exercise my angst skills hehe not perfect but I did my best! There might be errors here and there as well but please understand that I am a one-man band outside of fic fests ahahaha 
> 
> Please enjoy~

“They’re late,” Baekhyun grumpily says, running his fingers through his black hair as he pulls his sleeve up and glances at his watch. “Almost twenty minutes now. You know I absolutely hate being kept waiting, especially when I’m just dragged into this thing against my will.”

“They’ve contacted me,” Minseok say, scratching his head with an apologetic smile. “Apparently my date is having a hard time with your date. Let’s hold it out for a little bit more, they’re gonna arrive.”

Baekhyun sighs heavily in frustration. They are currently in a café within the local amusement park, waiting for their respective blind dates. This was actually Minseok’s idea. Originally, he’s supposed to be the only one going on this date but he chickened out, too nervous to do it on his own, and suggested that they took friends with them, ultimately turning this into a double blind date, in a way. 

Baekhyun didn’t like dating, but he can’t just deny Minseok, especially when he’s excited to meet this guy that he’s been chatting with for weeks.

Almost ten more minutes later, they still did not come. Baekhyun had been patient enough despite not wanting to take part in any of this. But his patience has run thin, so Baekhyun plants his hands on his knees then pushes himself up to his feet at the intention of walking out.

“Where are you going?” Minseok frantically says, grabbing his hand and pulling him back from taking any more steps forward.

“I’m done, I don’t want to wait anymore,” Baekhyun groans as he whisks his hand away from him.

But just as he says that, the door chimes open and in comes two men, rushing towards their direction. Minseok grabs his hand again and stands up, pulling him close to his side.

“We’re sorry!” the shorter guy, named Jongdae, cries out as they stop in front of them. “We’re so sorry, my friend here lost his way.”

“It’s okay!” Minseok says, his smile reaching from ear to ear. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Jongdae.”

“Me too,” Jongdae grins, eyes bearing hearts as he stares at the other. “You’re cuter in real life, not gonna lie.”

Baekhyun doesn’t hear any of what Jongdae and Minseok are saying, not because they are being gross flirting like this right in front of him, but it is because his attention is stuck on who is supposed to be his blind date.

 _This can’t be happening,_ Baekhyun groans as he looks up to the tall, familiar person who is awkwardly staring down at his feet, fidgeting with his fingers. He couldn't describe what he feels at the moment. It's not evident on his face, but he's in a state of shock, veins buzzing with electricity, his brain in disbelief at what his senses are sending him. Never in a million years did he ever think they’ll see each other again, and during something as mundane as a blind date, at that.

“Oh, this is my friend by the way! This is Park Chanyeol,” Jongdae says, pulling Chanyeol and placing an arm over his shoulders, but he still had to tiptoe because the man was a giant.

“Hello,” Chanyeol greets, softly smiling with that familiar dimple showing as he bowed politely.

“And this is Byun Baekhyun,” Minseok says, placing his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder cutely. “I hope you guys get along easily.”

“Umm… actually…” Chanyeol mumbles, scratching his neck as he looks at Baekhyun who freezes on the spot. Jongdae turns his attention to his friend, noticing the way he stares at him.

“What?” he asks. “You know each other?”

“You see-”

“We might have seen each other around, you look kind of familiar,” Baekhyun lies through his teeth, forcing a polite smile, pretending not to see the way Chanyeol seems taken aback by his little shenanigan as his shoulders sag in disappointment. 

“Y-Yeah…” Chanyeol just goes along with his flow, thankfully. “I’ve seen you around. It’s nice that we can get to know each other.”

Baekhyun just shrugs before Minseok invites everyone to sit down.

They spend around two hours in the café, having easy conversation over coffee and cakes mostly led by Jongdae who cannot seem to run out of any topics to talk about. Baekhyun still feels awkward with Chanyeol around, but he does contribute to the talk and does his best to make this as easy as possible for the two. After all, he agreed to this because he wanted to make Minseok happy.

He will do his best even if it means he will have to deal with someone who has left a painful mark in his past.

"Does everyone feel okay now? Up to leaving this place and checking the other sights here?" Minseok asks, cleaning his lips with a tissue paper.

"Sure, let's go," Jongdae says, and since it's just basically a date between him and Minseok, Baekhyun and Chanyeol can only follow whatever they wanted to happen.

It's even more awkward walking together. Minseok and Jongdae are practically inseparable, holding hands and looking like a whole legitimate couple even when they just first personally met each other like an hour ago. It leaves to Chanyeol and Baekhyun following after them, a considerable distance away from each other. Baekhyun has his arms crossed over his chest while Chanyeol had his hands dug deep into his pocket.

A few minutes later, Chanyeol decides to break the silence by announcing, "I'll get some ice cream."

"We'll be at that store," Jongdae says, pointing at one just a few meters away.

Baekhyun didn't know what got into him. Probably because he didn't want to look like the third wheel for the couple, he says, "Chanyeol, I'll come with you" without thinking much. The taller looks spooked at what he just said, but he does wait for Baekhyun before continuing to walk.

It's still awkward, but Chanyeol's mood improves when they approach an ice cream stall. Baekhyun unknowingly smiles to himself, finding it cute that the taller hasn't changed his relationship with ice cream, his comfort food.

Without even asking Baekhyun anything, Chanyeol orders two ice creams each with three scoops - both strawberry-flavoured. When he hands the first cone to Baekhyun, he says, "Hey, how much is this?"

Chanyeol shakes his head and just silently pays for both.

When they both get their ice cream, they stand at the side and start eating through them, making quick work since the weather was hot and the ice cream is melting faster than usual.

It's just contented silence for the first few moments. When Chanyeol reaches the end of base of his ice cream, he speaks up, "Baekhyun…"

"Yes?" the shorter says, avoiding eye contact as he busies himself with the struggle of the ice cream getting on his fingers.

"Why did you lie to them?"

Baekhyun doesn't answer immediately. He takes his time finishing through his cone, and when his fingers are cleaned off with the melted ice cream thanks to the tissues that he has taken with him from the cafe, Baekhyun says, "It's going to be awkward, right? If they find out we used to be boyfriends, they wouldn't know how to act. They'll be conscious about everything. I just want my friend to be at ease and be happy today, I don't want to burden them because of what we had going between us before failed." 

Chanyeol purses his lips and looks away.

"You know… I really missed you."

Baekhyun stops himself from rolling his eyes.

"This isn't really the time for that, Chanyeol," Baekhyun says, his voice cold and bland as he turns his back to him and starts walking towards where Jongdae and Minseok are. Chanyeol can only rub his face and run after Baekhyun, following him to the store.

"Do we look cute?" Minseok speaks up when they finally see them, the couple just finished paying for matching cat ears.

Baekhyun physically winces at the secondhand embarrassment while Chanyeol stops himself from bursting out in laughter at how ridiculous they both look.

"What's with that reaction?!" Jongdae whines. "You guys are killjoys!"

"Haters gonna hate," Minseok sticks his tongue out at Baekhyun and Chanyeol before dragging Jongdae out of the store.

They reach the rides, and one in particular catches their attention. 

"The ever classic roller coaster. Timeless as fuck," Jongdae grins mischievously, spreading his arms out as the ride plummets down from a high peak, with screams of terror echoing through the place. "You guys wanna give it a go?"

"Let's go," Baekhyun says mindlessly.

"But aren't you scared of that? You have a fear of heights," Chanyeol worriedly whispers from behind him, but he just ignores him and leads the way towards the ticket booth.

Baekhyun feels no remorse at all as he pays for the ticket. It is only when he takes a seat together with some girl he doesn't know away from Jongdae, Minseok and Chanyeol when he does feel the slightest bit of terror, but he convinces himself that he will have to face one of his fears.

He can't face everything after all, and facing at least one might do some good for him.

Minutes later after his batch of passengers are secured in place into their seats, the ride finally starts. Baekhyun grips the security bars holding his torso in place, eyes stuck forward, watching the rollercoaster slowly descend up to the first peak.

Everyone starts screaming when the rollercoaster slows down right at the top. Baekhyun bites his lip, his hands clammy as he just keeps his eyes on the horizon to avoid getting dizzy and possibly puking out all those expensive food from the cafe. 

It takes him by surprise, his face being punched by the breeze when the roller coaster plummets down. The momentum accelerates the roller coaster, its speed increasing upon its next descent to a higher peak. The rush gets Baekhyun to finally open his mouth and scream out a colorful string of curse words.

"Bloody fucking hell I'm about to die!" Baekhyun shouts, eyes shut as he grips the bars tighter, knuckles white at the pressure that he keeps exerting.

"Can't fucking die yet, I still want to have the chance to tell Park Chanyeol how much I fucking hate his ass!" Baekhyun screams, having no sense of anything at that moment, the rush of fear causing his emotions to leak out. 

"I want him to know how much of an asshole he is for leaving me to go to some foreign country like the big shot that he is without even fucking telling me about it! He treated me like a stupid idiot! He made me hope for years that he might come back somehow, but it did nothing but leave me feeling this bitter like a fucking moron while he probably had his best life fucking around abroad!"

Baekhyun cries in fear when they approach the second tallest peak.

“I was this fucking scared when he confessed to me, but I still did my best and loved him back! It’s this exciting being with him, and I should have known he was too good to be true! I was scared for a fucking reason, and I should have realized sooner that he’d do that to me!”

His voice is getting drowned out by all the aggressive terrified screams around him, and it just urges him further to scream.

“Fucking die, Park Chanyeol! Why can’t you just die?! I’m tired of keeping you alive in this pathetic heart of mine! Die, you asshole!”

Baekhyun sobs uncontrollably. 

“It’s so hard because when you’re alive inside me I can’t help but still love you even after how you’ve been so unfair!”

Almost like how their relationship ended, the roller coaster comes to an abrupt end. The moment the ride stops, Baekhyun quickly gets off and runs away, not wanting to face Chanyeol or even Jongdae and Minseok. Watching them being all lovey-dovey while the ghost of his past loomed around is like salt sprinkled onto an ugly wound.

“Baekhyun, wait!”

 _Crap,_ he thinks, rolling his eyes as he feels more tears roll down his cheeks. Baekhyun hastens his pace, having enough of Chanyeol’s presence for today - or more like in forever.

But his ex-boyfriend’s strides are far wider with those obnoxiously long legs, so it doesn’t take much for Chanyeol to easily catch up to Baekhyun, even managing to stop him on his tracks by standing right in front of him.

“Baekhyun, stop,” Chanyeol says, blocking Baekhyun’s way.

“Get out of the way, or I won’t hesitate,” Baekhyun growls at him, and it actually takes Chanyeol aback, having never seen Baekhyun be hostile or anything remotely close to that before as a mild-tempered person.

“Can’t,” Chanyeol firmly says, reaching out to grab his wrist.

Suddenly, Baekhyun pulls his wrist back and with one unexpectedly swift move, he throws a punch to Chanyeol’s jaw.

It wasn’t as hard as he wanted to be, but it does throw Chanyeol off his balance and distract him, giving Baekhyun enough time to run away from him.

If someone wanted something badly, they’d do anything despite the odds. And this annoyingly seems like the case with Chanyeol because even when his jaw is in pain, he rushes after Baekhyun like a fucking masochist who just can’t get enough of all the physical pain.

“Why can’t you understand that I don’t want to talk to you?!” Baekhyun screams when Chanyeol pins him against a tree at the outskirts of the park. “You had so much time to talk to me, why now when I can’t stand the mere presence of you?!”

“I just want to explain myself!” Chanyeol says, those familiar brown eyes sharp in all seriousness that made Baekhyun hesitate the slightest bit. 

“You don’t have to, your actions were enough,” Baekhyun grumbles.

“I heard you on the rollercoaster, Baekhyun. I can’t let you go like that after all those.”

“You only feel guilty, you just want to clear your conscience,” Baekhyun whispers, bottom lip trembling as he looks down, losing the tension in his body. “You’re conscious that you were an asshole after what I said, now you just want to explain yourself not to ease my heart but because it’s for your own benefit. You’re a fucking asshole, a fucking bastard. Fucking die, go fucking die-”

“Okay, I’ll die the way you want me to but just listen to me, at least for a minute or two,” Chanyeol pleads as he suddenly sinks to his knees. “Hear me out, please hear me out.”

Baekhyun bites his lip and looks away, trying so hard not to burst right then and there. Seeing Chanyeol stripped off of his pride and be on his knees should be gratifying him, not making him want to sob even more than he already is.

“I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to tell you that I’m moving away all of a sudden,” Chanyeol begins, eyes glassy as he stares up at him. “I was so confused about what to do, plus the fact that my parents were already against our relationship in the first place-”

“You never told me that...” Baekhyun weakly whispers. “Y-You said everything was a-alright...”

“I’m a coward, okay?” Chanyeol says. “I evaded all my problems and just wanted to spend every moment with you because they might be the last. I badly wanted to talk to you about a long distance relationship, but I was afraid. You were never the one who wanted to wait.”

Baekhyun bursts out crying again as he tugs at his hair.

“Chanyeol, I can wait for you no matter how long. Everything is an exception when it comes to you, you know that. I love you, I still do,” Baekhyun sounds so broken, it’s heart-wrenching to witness that Chanyeol couldn’t help but let go of his own tears. “You just made this so much harder for me you fucking douchebag! I fucking hate you… I fucking hate you...”

Chanyeol stands up and grabs Baekhyun, who feels the strength drain out of his body as he immediately melts into his ex-boyfriend’s heat. Baekhyun perches his head on Chanyeol's shoulder, sobbing harshly like the little wimp that he is.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for everything," Chanyeol whispers as he tightly embraces him.

Baekhyun hated how he feels so secure and warm in his arms, like it's meant to be if Chanyeol did not screw everything over.

"I want nothing more in this world than to try and fix whatever I've destroyed, Baekhyun. It's not because of guilt or my desire to clean my conscience for whatever I've done. I know I've been an asshole, and that will remain no matter what I do. I just want to make it up to you because it is what you deserve."

"You don't love me anymore, you can't fix anything like that," Baekhyun rasps, fisting the front of Chanyeol's shirt in his knuckles. He still loves Chanyeol, he really does, but it wouldn't feel right to let him do what he wants if he doesn't have any feelings for him left. He can't hold him accountable for Baekhyun's state of emotion when his heart isn't in it anymore. 

"Now that's not something you have the right to say," Chanyeol whispers, pulling away as he cradles Baekhyun's face in his hands. The shorter male sniffs, looking up to Chanyeol in admiration. For the first time today, he admires how handsome he has gotten over the years, something he didn't think was even possible. 

Yet despite the obvious changes, Chanyeol still had those same tender almond eyes that Baekhyun constantly gets lost into if he isn't careful.

And he's lost, uncareful, once again when Chanyeol suddenly brings his lips to his forehead, kissing him there affectionately.

"My heart never wavered when it came to you, Baekhyun. I wouldn't try to fix anything and waste my time on you if my love had gone cold."

Baekhyun feels more of his chaotic feelings start to bubble, at the verge of exploding out into the open as if he hadn't been doing that for the past hour, and he just hides it by pulling Chanyeol in for a proper kiss on the lips.

It's too sudden, this is too crazy, but life is a roller coaster, Baekhyun is constantly on an erratic reaction towards the thrill, and he can do nothing but obey what his heart desires to do.

And what his heart wants to do is to accept Chanyeol and let him heal it while time still allows it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
